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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Silent Running

This was one of the important movies of my formative years. I probably emulated doomed, impractical Freeman Lowell. His toxic relationships with his total jerkwad colleagues may inform my attitudes toward work more than I'd like. To cut Freeman some slack, I have never worked with people who would horseplay with nuclear triggers, so I'm even more out of sync. Roger Ebert libels Freeman calling him none too smart, which is ridiculous. Note: he steals a space freighter out from under the noses of the entire fleet, reprograms the drone cohort while bleeding half to death, and makes a delightful fruit salad. What Ebert may be reacting to is Bruce Dern's intense, crazy-guy stare, Freeman's misplaced optimism and poor debate tactics. He is the only sane man in an insane world and that would make anyone, well, insane.Makes for a bleak triple feature with Alien and Outland.